A lovely late afternoon walk from Mockbeggar around Newlands Plantation and Ibsley Common with stunning skies and a gorgeous sunset.
Climbing up through the remains of Newlands Plantation, I find the remains of what I assume to be the jaw bones of a deer. What strange teeth they have! Made for grinding grass I suppose.
Across to the Moyles Court end of Rockford Common.
A little further to the left, the long plateau of Rockford Common basking in the afternoon sun.
Ahead of me, the path across Ibsley Common winds its way towards Whitefield Plantation.
Busy skies over Newlands Plantation.
Over to my right, a group of three fallow deer graze among the cut bracken. Well, they were grazing until they saw me coming.
Looking back, the sun is sinking amongst a profusion of clouds.
The Fallow Deer are allowing me to get surprisingly close. Usually they’d have been off on their heels by now. This one watches me closely though – just to make sure I don’t take advantage!
Amazingly, they don’t move off even when I draw level with them. Very unusual! I take this last picture and walk on leaving them in peace.
One of my favourite Forest views, the sunset across a still Ibsley Pond never fails to be a vision.
Zooming in on the setting sun, the sky appears to be on fire.
Soon after, the appearance of a phenomenon known as a sun pillar. This is formed when sunlight reflects off the surfaces of falling ice crystals and is usually associated with thin, high-level clouds.
Zooming right in on the setting sun.
Further to the north west, Dorset appears in layers of dusky blue.
The sun has gone from this angle, the view across the pond is now a palette of blues, greys and peachy pinks.
Climbing out of the gravel pit in which Ibsley Pond lies, the sun pillar is still in view.
A few minutes later it starts to fade and the sky is pink and blue.
The sun has gone and the clouds are smudged as if someone has run a large thumb across the sky. An unforgettable evening!